


Hello, Soldier

by MegaraNoelle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Big Bang, M/M, Mentions of War, Modern Setting, Non powered au, Winteriron Bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8129284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaraNoelle/pseuds/MegaraNoelle
Summary: Finally home after getting discharged with a brand new arm, Bucky’s glad to be back home, with Steve there like it’s always been. He needs to keep busy though, and meets up with some Black Ops acquaintances, Barton and Romanoff, for a position with their Private Security company. There are rumors that someone is stealing, and producing, Stark Industries weapons, and selling them to the enemy, and they have a lead on who’s doing it.No one has seen Anthony Stark for years since his return from being kidnapped in Afghanistan. He quickly shut down weapons manufacturing, and started working on armor for their troops, advancements in medicine, and enhanced prosthetics for returning military members.Bucky hadn’t been expecting to hear that Steve was working for Stark industries now, but he’s not complaining when he goes to meet his best friend for lunch, and runs into Tony Carbonell. Who incidentally was the one who built his new metal arm. But why does Tony end up in the middle of his job to find a traitor? He hadn’t expected things to turn this quickly.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MassiveSpaceWren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassiveSpaceWren/gifts).



> My first foray into a Bang! I was so lucky to get two artists for my story, two incredibly talented artists! @massivespacewren and @ Poedameron-Tony !! Seriously guys, give them love, they did an Amazing job!!  
> The link for art from MassiveSpaceWren is at the bottom, and [HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/WinterironBang/works/8127481) (http://archiveofourown.org/collections/WinterironBang/works/8127481)  
> Art from Poedameron-tony can be found at the end of my Tumblr post [HERE!](http://megaranoelle.tumblr.com/post/150860260866/hello-soldier-winteriron-bang-16) (http://megaranoelle.tumblr.com/post/150860260866/hello-soldier-winteriron-bang-16)

He grabbed his carryon bag and threw it over his shoulder, moving with the slow trail of people exiting the plane. He flexed his left hand, the glove sliding across the metal, and let out a low breath when he felt it. Sergeant James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes was still getting used to feel of the new, slightly experimental, (but approved), prosthetic. Getting an Honorable Discharge, despite missing his arm, he had been contacted about receiving a new prosthetic before shipping out, and after a short discussion with his best friend Steve, he had decided to do it.

He was coming back to New York, and he was feeling pretty good. Better than he had in a while. Bucky stepped through the gate, swept past the people crowding to grab their other luggage, and went for the exit. A little smile crept on his face when he saw him. There was Steve, hands fidgeting in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels, looking nervous because Steve Rogers hated waiting for good things.

The blonde turned his head, caught sight of Bucky, and a grin broke out on his face. “Buck!” Steve raised his arm, as if he were the one getting his attention, and Bucky chuckled, moving quickly over. Bucky threw his good arm around Steve’s shoulders, and Steve was pulling him into a tight hold. “Damn, it’s good to see you!”

“You kiss your crush with that mouth?” Bucky laughed at Steve’s little blush creeping up his neck and hugged him a little harder.

They pushed away a bit, Steve’s hands still holding onto Bucky’s shoulders, smiling at him. “Come on, let’s get you back to the apartment. Got a home cooked meal, and some ice cream, waiting for you.”

“Oh man,” Bucky smiled, arm slung around Steve’s shoulders as they turned to walk. “Please tell me you got the mint chocolate chip, none of that butter pecan crap you eat.”

“There’s nothing wrong with butter pecan!” Steve cried out, scandalized. “I slave over an oven for you, and you bad-mouth my ice cream?” Bucky rolled his eyes as they headed for the parking garage. “I should have you court marshalled.”

“I don’t think it works like that anymore, Cap,” Bucky said with a soft snort.

“I’m sure I could cobble something together.” Steve shot him a soft smile. “It’s real good to have you back home, Buck. Real happy to see you.”

“Good to see you, too, Stevie,” Bucky said with a nod. “Looking a hell of a lot better than when I had to push your ass onto that plane back here.”

“You know I wanted you to come back with me,” Steve argued lightly. Something they had squabbled about dozens of times over. “But, I guess it didn’t hurt too much. I mean, you were right about Art school.”

“Hey, yeah, I never did get to hear too much about this sweet job you bagged.” When Steve had gone back state side, and Bucky elected to stay behind for another tour with the Commandos, they hadn’t gotten a lot of time to talk. Letters couldn’t get through, as the Special Ops group was never stationed in one place long enough to receive any kind of mail, and phone calls were barely three minutes long, when they were able to get them through. The most Bucky had known was that Steve had gone to a private Art university, and barely a month out had landed a job too good for Steve to even imagine.

“Well, let me tell you, it’s paying for a nice two bedroom place.” Steve pulled out a pair of keys from his pocket and headed for a car that had Bucky stopping in place. He turned to look back at his friend, a little frown on his face. “What?”

“You’re making enough to afford two actual beds for us, but you drive around in this?” Bucky looked at Steve, then to the blue, older than sin, Beatle sitting in a parking spot. “I feel cramped just looking at it. I’m surprised that it’s held your weight, but I’m positive that it’s going to fall apart once I get inside.” Steve pouted and walked over, rubbing the top of the car. “…. You’re not comforting the car, are you?”

“You insulted it!”

“It’s insulting me!”

“Hey, it’s still too cold for the Harley, so you get to put up with my back-up,” Steve told him. He pulled on Bucky’s bag, opening the back of the bug and throwing it in, before pointedly looking at the passenger side door. “I fixed her up myself-“

“Now I’m positive that I’m gonna die in it,” Bucky grumbled as he pulled open the door. “Your expertise needs to stay with the bikes, Stevie, seriously. Even then, you need to double check that with me. Leave the other four wheeled vehicles to me.”

“Then you can give her the once, or twice, over when we get back to the apartment,” Steve said as he climbed in on the driver’s side. “Are you getting in or what?”

“I’d almost rather take the ‘or what’.” Bucky mumbled under his breath. He climbed in, heard a little creak from the car, then winced when Steve actually started it. “My first on-sight review would be to pitch it. It might not be worth saving.”

“He didn’t mean it, baby,” Steve cooed as he pat the steering wheel. Bucky’s expression deadpanned, and Steve grinned. “I picked her up when I still in school, I needed a way to get back and forth, and this was all I was able to afford. Guess I just grew a little attached to it over the years.” The car rattled for a bit, and Bucky found himself gripping the door handle a little. Once they hit open road though, the ride smoothed out. “She’s not all bad.”

Bucky hummed a little and looked out the window. New York hadn’t seemed to change that much, but after six years overseas, it looked to have changed too much. It was a welcome sight to his eyes.

“You came back at a good time, though,” Steve continued, keeping soft conversation. “Snow’s practically all melted now, and we’re just dealing with some frigid morning and night temperatures. It’s getting towards the 30’s, almost 40’s, during the day. Practically spring time weather.”

“A hell of a lot cooler than the desert,” Bucky said quietly. He caught a head nod in his peripheral vision.

Steve rambled off some different conversation topics the rest of the way home, keeping all the important stuff for when they got back to the apartment. And didn’t that feel a little weird, already having a place to call his own. He and Steve had talked about getting a place once they got back to the States, not having to worry about living alone, and knowing that there would always be someone close by when nightmares happened.

As the car slowed, Bucky leaned forward, looking out the windshield at the building. He let out a low whistle. “This place looks nice.”

“Top floor place,” Steve started to supply. “North side of the building with a fire escape off the kitchen. Living room’s right off the entrance, and both bedrooms had a clear view of the living room.” Bucky nodded, feeling a bit more relaxed, shoulders dropping from a tense stance he hadn’t known he’d taken.

“Still can’t believe that you can afford a place like this, but you won’t get a better-“ Bucky whistled again, higher this time, when Steve pulled into a covered spot, seeing the black Harley Davidson motorcycle sitting next to it.

“That’s cause my first few paychecks went down for a down-payment on her.” Steve smiled and shut the car off. Bucky was sliding out of the rust bucket to get closer to the bike that was obviously Steve’s pride and joy. “Just pulled her out of storage, too. It hasn’t snowed for going on two weeks, and I just couldn’t wait anymore.”

“You said it was too cold to ride her, though,” Bucky said, walked a slow circle around the bike.

“Yeah, but you know how stubborn I am,” Steve said as he pulled out Bucky’s bag from the back of the car. Bucky snorted loudly then walked over and took the bag from his friend. “I’ll show you the place, then we can eat.”

//\\\//\\\

Bucky sat on the couch, finishing off the carton of ice cream, one small lamp on. He heard Steve shuffle out of bed, feet sliding against the floor, and out to the bathroom. Then stop. “Bucky?” His tired voice called out softly.

“You always get up this early for work?” Bucky asked, twirling the spoon between his fingers.

“I usually go for a run.” Steve yawned as he moved closer to the couch. “Wanna go with me?”

Bucky chew on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds, before shaking his head. “No, not today. I got a phone call coming in this morning anyway.”

He could practically feel Steve’s raised eyebrow, but he could hear the little foot shuffle he was doing. “Okay, I’m gonna ask questions, but it needs to wait.” Steve moved backwards, then turned to dash into the bathroom. Bucky smirked a little, then pushed himself off the couch to throw the tub away and drop the spoon in the sink. By the time he had poured two glasses of orange juice that Steve kept, said man was coming out of the bathroom.

“Should I be worried about this phone call?” Steve asked, taking a glass of juice from Bucky.

“Why should you be worried about a phone call?” Bucky raised an eyebrow at him, leaning against the kitchen counter. Steve shrugged a bit. “You remember a Romanoff and Barton? We met them briefly on a mission near Budapest.”

“Vaguely,” Steve said after a minute of thought. “Red head, right? The other was an archer?” Bucky nodded. “Yeah, what about them?”

“I saw them in Germany, while I was getting some of the physio for my arm,” Bucky started to explain. “We got to talking, and they said that they were hired in for private security team here in New York. Works with military, and they wanted to offer me a spot. So, I said once I got back state side I’d check it out.” Steve had raised both eyebrows, but had managed to finish his juice. “What? You think I shouldn’t do it?”

“No,” Steve shook his head. “No, it sounds good for you, actually. I’m glad that you got something lined up so quick.” Bucky watched Steve, then blinked. Steve hadn’t taken to classes quite so quickly coming back home, needing to spend a little more time to himself before trying to acclimate himself back into society. “This seems like just the right thing for you, too.”

“Ah, here’s the talk that you wanted to have last night,” Bucky said knowingly, switching out Steve’s empty glass for his untouched once. “Yup, I may have something lined up, but I’m just checking it out first. I already have an appointment with a therapist for next week, and a physical therapist at the end of this week. No, I don’t want to talk yet, yes, I’m doing alright so far.” Steve adopted his unimpressed expression.

“Right, well,” Steve drained the juice from the glass and put it back on the counter. “So, I’ll set some sheets out on the couch tonight?” Bucky frowned a bit. “I didn’t sleep for the first week back, and then I slept on a ratty couch for a month after. The softness of the bed is a little hard to get used too.”

“Had a little bit of time to get used a bed at the hospital in Germany,” Bucky told him. “Shouldn’t take me too long.” Steve shrugged a little, then nodded. They stood there for a few moments, then Bucky was rolling the sleeve of his shirt up, and Steve’s eyes flickered to the metal arm. “I’m told it’s a new line, and that the metal is just a prototype. It’s got nerve connectors, and it’s light weight.”

“Looks complicated, but it’s really something.” Steve reached a hand out, eyes flickering up, asking silently if it was okay to touch. Bucky nodded once and Steve ran his fingers up the arm. “Couldn’t have been an easy process.”

“They took a mold of my other arm here, so it’s a nearly identical match.” He twisted his arm a little and Steve blinked, feeling some of the panels shift. “I can feel a lot, something about sensors in the metal. If this works then they can upgrade it, eventually replace it with a more realistic looking one.”

“I don’t know, the metal kind of suits you.” Steve smiled at him and Bucky snorted a little. “So, who makes it? Or will you be making flights out to the hospital in Germany.”

“Nah,” Bucky shook his head. “Right here in New York, Manhattan actually. It’s uh, Starktech I think they said.” Steve straightened up and Bucky raised an eyebrow. “I figured I was wrong, I mean, Stark makes weapons. Why would I suddenly be getting an arm from them?”

“You got it right,” Steve told him. “It’s Starktech for sure.” Bucky watched him as he moved into the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit, getting something in his stomach before going on what was probably a god awful long run. “You remember hearing how Stark went missing? We were just getting into the Commandos when it happened, what, like four years ago?” Bucky remembered. They were offering to go on the search for the missing billionaire, but it seemed that the Air Force had it covered, or something, and they were told to back off. “About half a year later, he turns up, but no one sees him. Well, he’s become a recluse, but he’s working at the company still. He shut down the weapons division and started working on clean energy, prosthetics, medical equipment, even some consumer electronics. The press goes crazy, says that Stark had a breakdown or something.”

Bucky grabbed a knife from the block, twirled it a few times then grabbed the apple from Steve and started cutting it. “Then, right when I’m about to graduate from school, there’s a big hub-bub. Stark Industries right hand is ejected from the company, and now there are some legal battles. Rumor is that he was selling weapons under the table, and they’re locked in so much legal mumbo-jumbo that over a year later, they’re still fighting it.” Bucky whistled and shook his head. “Yeah, tell me about it. And no one’s still seen Stark himself, but he turned the company right back around. Hadn’t seen what was going on down in the labs until now, though. There’s some nice work going on. I’d hate to admit it out loud, but I might have to talk to Tony about it.”

“Tony?” Bucky smirked slightly. “Is that that Carbonell fella?” Steve took the apple slices from Bucky, narrowing his eyes a bit when the dark haired man stole a couple slices. “He works for Stark Industries, then?”

Steve cleared his throat a little and glanced away, and now Bucky could tell something was up. “Yeah, he does. He’s in R&D, head of the department actually.”

“How did you meet this guy again?”

“Starting to sound a little jealous, there Buck.” Steve shoved half a slice in his mouth and started to move towards his bedroom.

“Steve!” Bucky called out, following him. “I am not jealous,” he rumbled out. “Why did you get so sticky when I brought up his job?” Bucky stepped just inside Steve’s room, and caught sight of some of the clothes laid out on Steve’s bed. His running shirt had a familiar logo on it. “You work for Stark Industries??”

“Ah, yes, well, we never did talk about my new job last night, did we?” Steve rubbed the back of his head a little, offering Bucky a little smile. “What are the odds, right?”

//\\\//\\\

Bucky sat in the corner of the café, back against the wall, eyeing the front entrance, and the way towards the bathrooms where he knew the back exit was. A cup of tea sat in front of him, his fingers curled around the cup, but it was still pretty full. It didn’t take long until he saw the door open and Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton were walking in. They didn’t have to look around, and Natasha was moving towards his table first. Barton went up to the desk, ordering some drinks for them.

“Barnes,” Romanoff said as she sat down across from him. Bucky nodded to her once, and then Barton was sliding in next to her.

“You’re looking a hell of a lot better,” Barton said, eyeing him up and down. “Back to four main limbs.” Bucky raised an eyebrow at him and the archer grinned at him. “You work with us, you get to see my pretty face all day.”

“I thought you wanted me to work with you.” Bucky said, eyebrow still up. Romanoff smirked and took a drink of the coffee that Barton had gotten for them.

“Something tells me that you’ve already made up your mind,” she murmured to him.

“And I’m thinking that you’ve already got something lined up,” Bucky offered back, tracking two more people that walked in. “Else you wouldn’t have wanted to meet so soon. I just got back in yesterday.”

“We know,” she said.

“Alright, so, let’s say that I might be in.” Bucky leaned back in his chair a little, eyes shifting back and forth the two former military. “I’m not sure though, but you’ve got something that you want me in on.”

“The big boss wants you in on it,” Barton clarified. “What are you thinking?”

“Trial run?” Romanoff asked. “You work with us on this job, and see if this what you need. We get this thing done, take out a potentially international threat, and you get a little taste of what it could be like with the group.”

Bucky kept eyes on them, bringing his tea cup to his lips. A trial run wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Yes, he was leaning towards working for the security group, and with Romanoff and Barton in particular, but he wasn’t exactly sure how his new arm would perform. For everyday tasks it was working just fine, but he wasn’t one to sit around and do nothing. This could be a perfect situation to test the full functions of the prosthetic, and brush up on his skills.

“I’m gonna need more information about this job,” Bucky said finally. Barton smirked as he took a large drink of his coffee, and Romanoff was pulling out some papers.

“A few years ago, an American made it out of Afghanistan not too long after Anthony Stark had been kidnapped.” Romanoff pushed a folder of papers over towards Bucky, and he flipped the top open. “Rumor is that he took advantage of what was happened and was able to quietly make it out with too much information about Stark weapons. Those weapons that are still being used as we speak.”

“Thought SI shut down the weapons department,” Bucky commented, idly flipping up a page.

“If you’ve got plans for a weapon, all you need is a place to make it,” Barton answered him. “It has to be someone inside of Stark Industries, though, and we’ve finally got a lead on where they are.”

Bucky sat up a little when he flipped another page, coming up on the information that they were covering. “Here in New York?” He furrowed his brows a little. “You would think that they would want to distance themselves from the company they were stealing from. Maybe even from the United States.”

“Unless they were too confident that they wouldn’t be caught,” Romanoff countered. “It took a while to get this information, and they’ve been very good at covering their tracks.” Bucky raised an eyebrow at her, flipping the folder closed again. “Our first task is to scout the location to see if anyone is there.”

“Then we have to find the proof,” Barton added. “Really, just about anything with a Stark logo on it would do for me.”

“Our information says our best window is tomorrow evening.” Romanoff leaned back in her chair a little. “I think we’d have the best shot at finding something with you there. We need a mix of stealth and infiltration.”

“Eyes,” Bucky motioned towards Barton, “and ears,” a motion towards Romanoff, “telling me where to go?” They both nodded. “Send me the details about the stakeout. I’ve got an appointment for lunch.” He finished his tea, then grabbed the folder of information from the table. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Pretty sure that we don’t need to tell you not to share the details,” Romanoff said with a knowing look. “That means not telling your bosom buddy.” Bucky’s lip lifted slightly in a kind of sneer, but he squashed it quickly. “We observed you and Rogers during Budapest-“

“Nothing that will interfere with a mission,” he told her in a tight voice, heading again for the exit.

//\\\//\\\

Bucky kept both hands in the pockets of his jacket as he approached the large building. He had lost himself a couple blocks away, looking up and seeing the name plastered on the side of the building, and noting how different this particularly building looked so much different than any of the others around it. The Stark Industries Tower certainly was something else.

Pushing the glass door open he saw dozens of people still walking around, coming and going, some in suits, some in business casual, but Bucky only had eyes on the metal detectors with the guards. Since getting his new prosthetic he had a mostly hate relationship with them. The guards by the detectors noticed how he had hesitated, and now they were watching him.

He took a breath and stepped forward, putting his spare set of keys for the apartment, and his change in a bowl. He pulled out his wallet and pulled out a laminated card that he needed, before pulling his jacket off, and setting it through the scanner. He could feel the guards eyeing his gloved left hand, and he was ready to hand over the card that explained his prosthetic when a shout caught their attention.

“Wait a sec, Buck!” He looked over, ready to step through the arch, but stopped when he heard Steve’s voice, and saw the blonde jogging over to them. “You gotta give me more than two minutes, Buck. Hey, Pat,” Steve said to one of the guards when he got to them. “Can you just wand him? He’s got one of R&D’s new limbs, and I know we all hate that noise when an alarm is tripped.”

“Thinking back to your first week, Rogers?” The guard, Pat, said with a smirk as the second one waved Bucky around the side. Bucky couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Steve as he stepped over, putting his arms out for the guard and his metal detector wand.

“That was how long ago?” Steve asked with a near pout. “It’s the left arm, by the way. Take off your glove, Buck.” Bucky wrinkled his nose a little, then pulled off his glove so the guards could see the metal hand. They nodded and let him gather his stuff back.

“That’s the first one we’ve seen since they rolled out the prototypes,” Pat told Steve, glancing over at Bucky when he walked over to his friend. He saw the card in Bucky’s hand then nodded a little. “Next time, you can just show us that card, and we’ll wave you around.”

“Thanks,” Bucky said with a nod.

“Thanks a lot, Pat,” Steve told him before turning to Bucky with a smile. “Come on, we’ll get you a visitor’s badge and I’ll give you the nickel tour.”

“I don’t even get the dime tour?” Bucky asked, throwing a smirk at the secretary at the desk. She let out a little flutter of a giggle as she typed in his information for his badge. “I thought we were close, Stevie?”

“Be lucky I’m not sticking you with the penny tour.” Steve rolled his eyes at his best friend as he clipped on his badge. “It’s good to see that you’ll still flirt with anything on two legs.”

“Doesn’t even have to be two,” Bucky retorted and Steve snorted softly. “Just a fall back mechanism, helps me feel a bit more comfortable in big crowds. Old habits, familiarity, some other big words that an army therapist threw at me.”

Steve nodded, motioning towards the opening elevator doors. Bucky gave a little shake of his head, and Steve led them over to the stair access door. “Well, then you’re in luck for lunch. Hope you don’t mind, but Tony wanted to get a look at your arm, see how it was holding up, and R&D has a smaller café on their floor. Not nearly as full as the one open to the public.”

“The things I do for you, Rogers.” The two soldiers took the stairs in a familiar routine, neither really liking to be contained in the metal box of an elevator. “Am I at least getting a free meal out of this?”

“There’s even a beer in it for you,” Steve offered. He glanced at Bucky with a slight tilt to his lips. “R&D is up on the 50th floor, you know.”

“Just let me know when you get tired, Princess,” Bucky fired back.

“I’ll there to carry you when you just can’t go on.”

“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

When the hit the Research and Development floor where Steve’s friend Tony was, Bucky’s appetite was very healthily built. The two friends had been stubborn enough to not admit when they probably should have taken the elevator, and had endured all 50 flights. When they practically dragged their feet through the door Bucky saw a man standing in the hall staring at them. His eyes lingered a bit longer than was probably polite, but he couldn’t help it. The brunette stood with his arms crossed over his chest, screaming of attitude. He wore some large square, black, plastic-rimmed glasses that didn’t seem to match his flustered-last-year-in-college shaggy hair cut that he had. He could see the soft curls in his hair trying to make themselves known as his hair flared out around his ears, and along his neck, the ends of his bangs tickling his long, dark lashes. The chestnut brown eyes were dancing with intelligence and mirth, despite there being no noticeable smile on his clean shaven face.

The man looked at the watch on his wrist, then back at Steve, but Bucky did feel the eyes giving him a once over as well. “I’ve been standing here for, like, 5 minutes, Rogers.” Steve leaned his hip against the wall in a weak attempt to catch his breath. Bucky saw right through it, and it seemed that Tony did as well. “Did you freaking take the stairs again? Ugh, I feel like my body just burned 500 calories by looking at you. Please tell me that you wear one of those exercise watches. I would kill to know your calorie intake versus what you burn.”

“Everything is like an experiment for you, isn’t it?” Steve asked, and Tony just raised an eyebrow.

“Data, I work with lots of data,” Tony told him, like it was probably the hundredth time.

“Yeah, Stevie,” Bucky taunted. Steve shot him an unamused look. “It’s as if you don’t know what a scientist’s job is.”

“He gets to call you Stevie?” Tony demanded, and he might have actually pouted. “Last time I called you that, it looked like you were going to stab me with one of your fancy pens.” Bucky watched his arms drop to his sides, hip cocking out to the side.

“I’ve known him a lot longer, doll,” Bucky spoke up, shooting a smirk Tony’s way. A delighted tingle ran down Bucky’s spine when those bright brown eyes turned to him, giving an obvious up and down look at him. “Best friends, probably around the time he was getting out of diapers.”

“Ugh, Buck!” Steve groaned, pressing his palm to his face. Bucky hoped he could draw the red flush of embarrassment up Steve’s neck now. “He’s gets to call me Stevie because he won’t stop, and I get to call him Bucky.”

“Bucky?” Tony raised his eyebrows. “Did you lose a bet to get that name?”

“I don’t go around making fun of your name,” Bucky grumped a little as Steve grinned.

“Bucky, this is Tony. Tony, this is my friend Bucky,” Steve said in a delayed introduction. “He’s the head of R&D, like I told you this morning.”

“Aw, you’re talking about me Rogers, I’m touched!” Tony batted his eye lashes, an exaggerated sweet tone. “What’s his last name?”

“Barnes,” Steve responded, and Bucky raised an eyebrow at him. “He does better with last names,” Steve explained.

“Since we started rolling out with prosthetics, and repairs to older models, it’s easier to remember who has what when I’m working with a last name, or a model number,” Tony elaborated, eyes flicking to Bucky’s left arm. “You’ve got the PA-0012, right?”

“Uhh,” Bucky blinked. “Probably. I wasn’t exactly interested in the exact model number when they were attaching it.” He knew all the information was on the laminated card he carried, but he wasn’t interested in the name, but how it performed.

“Before you start drooling over it,” Steve interrupted, “how about we get something to eat first?” He was looking between Tony and Bucky, before his stomach let out a loud rumble.

“That’s what you get for-“ Tony was stopped when Bucky’s stomach joined in. “I bet you’re as much a bottomless pit as he is.” The shorter brunette sighed and turned on his heel and started walking down the hallway, waving a hand to the other two men to follow him. “Let’s go claim all the food before anyone else does.”

Bucky shot a look at Steve as they started in the same direction. “He grows on you,” Steve told him, and Bucky hummed with a nod. He let his eyes take a quick stock of the back of Tony, and he may have lingered a little lower, but those jeans Tony wore were a work of art.

Although he hadn’t seen what the main cafeteria looked like, Bucky was glad that they had bypassed it when they walked into the one of the R&D floor. There weren’t that many people inside already, but it looked like it would only hold a couple dozen people at most. It seemed most of the space was taken up by the cooking area where professional looking chefs were cooking, with other servers manning the ‘fresh food’ station for other sides. Bucky was a little surprised when he saw that there was an option for steak on the menu.

“The surf and turf is pretty good,” Tony commented when he caught Bucky looking over the menu. “Rogers has ordered it a couple of times, even though he doesn’t actually eat all of the lobster.”

“They serve lobster here, too?” Bucky’s eyes widened a little, wondering just what kind of employee cafeteria this was.

“It doesn’t actually take that long to cook a lobster,” Tony said with a shrug of his shoulders, as if it common knowledge. Bucky was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to safely cook a lobster to save his life. Or anyone else’s if they ate it. “I’m a personal fan of the burgers here though.”

“That sounds simple enough,” Bucky murmured, still looking through the list. “I’ll just get what Steve gets, I usually mooch off of his plate anyway.” Steve snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Why don’t you go grab us a table, Stevie,” Tony said, grinning at the glare that Steve shot his way. “I know what you like, I’ll order it. Apparently, I’ll just order two of that.”

“Please don’t traumatize him,” Steve muttered as he walked off.

“Who are you talking, too?” Tony called out after him. “Me, and or Buckster?” Bucky’s head whipped to face Tony.

“Exactly.” Steve answered.

“Yeah, Buckster isn’t gonna fly,” Bucky informed Tony, catching his attention again. “You can call me James, or Barnes, or if it kills you not to use it, Bucky.”

“I’ve already got a James,” Tony said offhandedly. He held up a hand as he turned to order their food from the chef. Bucky was pretty sure he heard the total number of burgers amount to five, a couple orders of fries and even onion rings. Tony himself didn’t look like he ate too much himself, which left Bucky wondering just how much Steve usually ate, and also how often these two actually ate together. “Not that I actually call him James,” Tony jumped back into the conversation like it had never stopped. “What’s up with Bucky, anyway? I mean, how does one earn a nickname like that?”

“From a very unfortunate middle name,” Bucky told him. Tony was raising an eyebrow after a moment, when Bucky didn’t continue. “Oh no, I’m not saying it out loud. Anyway, if you know so much about my arm, then you should have seen my name in the file.”

“I like looking at the details of my tech, making sure that I haven’t missed anything.” Tony motioned towards some fresh fruit to add to their order. Bucky tilted his head a little in question. “I’m head of R&D, nothing gets through without my approval, or in your case, without me working on it.”

Bucky felt his metal fingers flex, and he fought to look down at it. “That’s why you want to get a look at it so bad? Because you worked on it?”

“Because I made it,” Tony corrected. “I would have been there in Germany when they did the surgery for your arm, but scheduling wasn’t working in my favor.” His eyes moved to his left arm, even if he couldn’t see it under his clothes and jacket. “After getting a look at your case, I wanted to work on this one personally. Never expected that you’d end up knowing Rogers.”

“Why do you call him by his last name?” Bucky couldn’t help but ask, changing the topic. He didn’t feel up to talking about his arm with so many people around. He wasn’t sure how well he’d handle it in a lab setting, but that felt a little more familiar for him.

“I can’t find a good nickname for him,” Tony told him, pulling out his employee ID to swipe at the register before Bucky even noticed that they had reached the end of the line. “He apparently doesn’t take to Stevie, unless it’s from you-“

“He’s forced to endure it from me,” Bucky explained with a small smirk.

“-and Steve just feels so boring.”

“You could call him Cap,” Bucky offered. “If you two can hang out without killing each other, I’m pretty sure that you can get away with the name.” Tony’s brows crinkled, adorably Bucky could admit. “He never told you his rank in the Army?”

“He doesn’t talk much about his time overseas,” Tony said. “And I don’t ask.” There was a story there, Bucky could practically feel it, and trip over it. “So, he was a Captain, then?”

“Best one I knew,” Bucky agreed with a nod. One of the staff came over with a tray and Bucky moved before Tony could, taking the tray, that was completely full of food, and Tony gave him a little smirk.

“Thanks a lot, Soldier,” he said, giving Bucky a two fingered salute. “Mmm, I like that, I’m gonna call you Soldier.”

“Not Bucky?” He asked the man, turning on the charm. Tony seemed to respond with his own flirty smile.

“No, no, that belongs to Steve. I like having my own thing.” Tony brushed their arms before taking the lead to the table that Steve had been saving for them. The man was giving a little strut now, pulling in Bucky’s attention. This man was going to be trouble for Bucky. Fun, but trouble.

Tony leaned back in his chair, appearing open, too open, but easily held up conversation with both Bucky and Steve. “How is the arm treating you?” He asked Bucky, stealing some fries from his plate. Bucky retaliated by stealing an onion ring, but Tony just raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“So far, so good,” he responded with a shrug. “Haven’t much else than what they have me doing during physio, so I can’t say if it’s a perfect replacement or not.”

“Not meant to be that,” Tony told him, holding onto a fry. “Meant to give a semblance of normality back. At least make it seem like there isn’t a large piece of your body missing.” Tony lifted his leg, ankle resting on his other knee, and Tony tapped his fingers on his leg. “What I was most concerned about was the weight of the arm, because you didn’t need a constant weight pulling on your shoulder and giving you anymore pain issues.”

Steve shot Bucky an amused little smile as Tony was speaking, before leaning over to steal one of his French fries as well. “We’re not making it back to the lab before he looks at your arm, trust me on this.”

“I do love my tech.” Tony reached over to Bucky’s arm and stroked his fingers over his shirt fabric. “You’ve got my baby on your body.” Bucky bit his lip to try not to smile at the motion.

“That doesn’t sound weird at all,” Bucky looked at Tony, and he swore he saw the man wink at him.

“Then I’m not doing my job right, Soldier.” Steve raised his eyebrow at the nickname, and Bucky shot him a wink. “I like the name,” Tony declared. “I can use it all friendly like, or sexually.” Bucky’s eyebrows shot up and Tony grinned. “Need something for you, Rogers, cause I’m getting sick of using your first-name-sounding last name all the damn time.”

“You could just use, Steve,” Bucky suggested, and Tony actually scrunched up his entire face.

“That’s so boring, though. No, I think I’ll call you Cap, at least for now. It seems to suit you.” Tony stole the last fry, grinning at the two men opposite him. “Tell you what, Soldier,” Tony said, wiggling his eyebrows a little at Bucky. “I like you. So, how about you come on back here in a couple days, let me get a good, proper look at your arm, and I’ll give you some upgrades. We’ll talk about what I can do to make things easier for you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

//\\\//\\\

Metal fingers flexed, checking the knives in his belt one more time, crouched on the roof. Bucky looked over at the brownstone across the street. Romanoff had gone radio silent nearly half an hour ago, and Barton was perched somewhere higher up. So far, there had been no movement. He was positive that there was no one in the house, and the only signs of any light were outside lamps, and a couple of lamps in what Bucky assumed was the living room. He had gone over the plans of the house and he knew there was a basement level, something that had been added only six years ago, but it appeared that the office where any information would be would be on the second floor.

“All is still quiet,” Barton said in his ear. Bucky pushed his sleeve up, noting that it was almost one in the morning, and if there had been no movement yet, there probably wouldn’t be any for a while yet. “Anytime, Tasha.”

“What part of radio silent do you not get?” Her deadpan tone coming through clear enough. “Give me two minutes. There’s a very impressive encryption around, well, just about anything tech related.”

“I don’t deal with encryptions,” Bucky said quietly over the coms. “I’m here to sneak in, grab what we need, and get out.”

“I forgot how focused you get when on a mission,” Barton commented. “My word, I do say we have the right person for the job,” he continued in an exaggerated southern-belle accent.

“Fifteen second until the power is out,” Romanoff informed them. “I’ll have to stay here to keep the system from rebooting before we have what we need. Move quick, Barnes.”

Bucky nodded and then he was moving from his spot, sliding down the fire-escape ladder and moving silently across the street just as the closest street light went out. He saw the lights in the front of the house flicker, enough to give him cover to move down the alley along the house and to the back door. The lamps inside the house went out as the outside lights flickered back on, not wanting to draw too much attention, and he was pulling out his lock-picks as soon as he hit the door.

“You aren’t seriously using a lock pick, are you?” Barton questioned. Bucky often wondered just how good his eyesight was, but he hadn’t earned the name Hawkeye for nothing.

“I am,” he said simply. “No fuss, no muss.” Bucky was pleased so far with hos his metal arm was responding so far, fine finger movements as he lifted each of the tumblers in precise order until he heard the click he wanted. “And I’m in.” He whispered, pushing the door open, closing it as soon as he was in.

“Second floor access is near the front,” Barton reminded him.

Bucky grunted, but didn’t say anything as he moved across the house, eyes moving to every door and archway looking for movement, and structural weakness. He was about to climb the stairs then stopped, a soft sound reaching his ears. From below. Bucky reached back and grabbed his molded black mask, slipping it on, and pulling down his goggles, before reaching into a belt pouch and grabbing a smoke charge.

Turning around he reached for the door that led to the basement, and kept low as he crept down the stairs, pleased to see that they were concrete. Silent for his needs. There were no sounds, and no light as expected. Bucky tapped the side of the goggles, letting a night vision flare up. There were lots of machines, lots of tech that was quiet with no power, and many tables that seemed full of half tinkered experiments. He frowned when he thought he saw something resembling an arm, and most of a leg.

The soft patter of metal behind him had him turning, arm up to deflect a punch that was aimed at his head. His other hand dropped the smoke charge, but the attacker’s leg lashed out, kicking it across the room before he could pull the pin. Another kick to his side had Bucky turning in towards the person, metal arm moving to try and subdue the person. A low sounding grunt when he was able to grab an arm, pulling back, confirmed the attacker was male.

The other arm went out and managed to grip the edge of his goggles, pulling them off and Bucky growled. It would take his eyes longer than he wanted to adjust to the dark, giving the man a fraction of an advantage. There was another kick, and Bucky was reasonably sure that a leg shouldn’t be able to pack that much force.

He reached back to grab one of his knives as the man twisted his arm out of Bucky’s grip, then hopped back when the first slash came down. It was clear that the man could see more easily in the dark-

A glint of light, so quick he almost missed it. No, the man couldn’t see better, he had his own device to help him see in the dark. The flat of the man’s foot hit him square in the chest, pushing him back, until he backed into one of the tables he had seen before. Bucky ducked down when he heard the displaced air of a punch, and rolled forward into his legs, knocking him down to the ground.

“Barnes.” Romanoff’s hissed voice sounded through his ear piece. “I can’t hold off for much longer. The emergency systems are trying to boot up. Something is fighting me.”

He crawled on top of the man, metal arm pushing down across his shoulders, and he raised his other arm enough, bringing the dagger up. He still couldn’t get a good enough look at the man, and that cost him as he brought down his hand with the dagger, but something caught at his wrist, and the knife slipped from his grip. The man wasted no time in grabbing in, and raising it up himself. He was pushing against the man, hand pushing against his chest, and a soft blue glow caught his eye, until the man bucked against him, arm coming down with the knife. Bucky was prepared to feel the sting of metal to his skin, somewhere important, but the hand came down, and Bucky gasped when the knife slid between plates of the fake arm, causing a shock to travel through his body. And just like that, his left arm was completely useless.

“Barnes, get out of there,” Barton said tightly. “Right now.” The man’s right leg came up, kicking Bucky’s chin and sending him sprawling back. Something about the kick was off, and it wasn’t until he grabbed at the ankle with his flesh and blood hand that he could tell. The leg was fake, it was metal just like his arm was. He gave a sharp twist and the man cried out, a spark flashing brightly, giving Bucky the time to roll back and scramble to his own feet.

He charged up the stairs, aiming for the back door again, and for his alleyway escape route. As he left the house, the lights flickered back on, and with one last glance back he thought he saw brunette hair as the door slammed shut.

Bucky leapt up onto a dumpster, one good arm reaching for the fire escape ladder and pulled himself up, not stopping until he was at the top of the roof. He let out a breath, then pulled out the knife from his arm. He hissed when he felt a spark run through his arm and across his shoulders.

“Were you able to find anything?” Romanoff asked, and Bucky resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Yeah, I found the owner of the house,” he near about growled out. “He was home, down in the basement.”

“What were you doing down there?” Barton asked.

“You told me no one was home!” He hissed out. “Let’s forget about the fact that I took the wrong steps, and focus on the fact that someone was there.” And that person, who was obviously good with tech, had his goggles now. “They knew that something was happening the second the power went out, and I would have been a sitting duck had I gone upstairs. I think they know that someone is onto them now.” He heard both of the spies curse quietly, and he got to his feet. Keeping low to the roof, in case the man was watching, Bucky moved quickly across the roof, lowering down the other side and taking the back ways to their meetup location.

Bucky pulled off his mask, slipping it into his pocket, and was working on taking off his jacket when Natasha walked into the empty apartment, Clint close behind her. He pushed the sleeve of his shirt up and the red-head was leaning in to see the damage. “Looks like they cut some important wires there.”

“I have a fancy paper-weight attached to my shoulder,” he grumbled, pulling his sleeve back down. “What happened to no one being in the house?”

“I watched that house for over 16 hours,” Barton told him. “Unless there’s another way in that house, not included in the house blueprints, then I don’t know how he got in there. I watched him leave this morning, and security footage didn’t pick up any movement, not even for mail.”

“I can’t do anything until I get this repaired.” Bucky grabbed his jacket and stood up. “But, you two better find a way to cover my ass. He pulled off my goggles, and those, and the smoke charge, are still in that house. I don’t want this traced back to me.”

“I’d be afraid that they’d be able to ID you with that arm of yours,” Romanoff said, watching him with her arms crossed.

“Even though I’m one of the few to have this kind of prosthetic, it’s also not well known that Stark Industries is working on this.” He forced his jacket over the dead arm, then opened the door. “I have an appointment tomorrow, it’ll get fixed then.”

“Be careful,” Barton called out.

//\\\//\\\

Going through security a second time was much easier, considering that the guards remembered him, and he had his ‘I Have A Metal Appendage’ card ready. Steve didn’t meet him this time, but when he told the secretary that he had an appointment with Tony Carbonell, they were all too happy to tell him where to go.

Bucky remembered what floor to go to, and he was sure that Tony would be waiting for him. He’d admit that he was a little excited to see Tony again, the lunch he had with him and Steve had been exciting, and a little bit of a thrill to exchange the open flirting with the brunette. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining what had happened to his arm though.

He took a breath then stepped into one of the elevators, not looking forward to climbing 50 floors by stairs again. Luckily, it seemed the elevators offered a smooth, but quick, ride, and before Bucky could let out the breath he was walking off onto the R&D floor. Confirming his theory, Tony was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, waiting for him.

“My private lab is this way,” he said, pushing off the wall before Bucky could get a word out. “I’ve already got the schematics pulled up in there.” Bucky raised an eyebrow but followed him down the hall. He noticed that Tony moved a little differently, his foot appearing to be a little stiff.

“A pleasure to see you again as well,” Bucky said, catching up with him to next to him. “Long day at work already?”

“It was a long night,” Tony told him, shifting his eyes to look up at him. He let out a tired sigh, and Bucky felt a bit of sympathy for him. “Unfortunately I don’t see much sleep in my future, thanks to work.”

“You don’t look like you get much sleep now,” Bucky told him. “If you aren’t careful, you’ll give a raccoon a run for their money with rings.” Tony let out a soft snort, a small smile slowly appearing on his face.

“I bet you could pull off guy-liner pretty well,” Tony commented. “It would definitely bring out the pale blue of your eyes.” Bucky raised an interested eyebrow. “Like you don’t know how pretty you are.”

“Ouch, pretty.” Bucky put his hand to his chest, feigning pain. “I get called pretty, but a gorgeous thing like you. It’s a blow to my ego.”

“Calling me gorgeous isn’t going to win you an extra points,” Tony told him, pushing open an office door. Bucky swore he saw a flash of sadness in his hazel eyes, but it was gone just as quickly. “Even if it is true.”

“I can see that your ego is nice and healthy, though.” Bucky said with a smirk. He walked into the office, then Tony motioned towards a glass door and Bucky could see what looked like a mini lab. There were a couple tables in the middle of the room, filled with tools and what looks like scrap pieces of metal. Tony pushed over a small stool to Bucky, motioning towards a clear spot on one of the tables.

“Go ahead and put your arm up there.” Tony pushed some of the stuff to the side, and brought forward most of his tools. Another stool rolled over, and it was obvious that it was going to be for him. “Uh, you can either just push up your sleeve, or take your shirt off.”

“Will I get the same treatment?” Bucky asked with a smirk, trying not to look too awkward as he pulled off his jacket. Tony turned his head a little to look at Bucky, and he knew he wasn’t imaging the smirk that play across his lips. “Ooo, a non-answer.” Bucky had been prepared though, wearing a tank top instead of anything with sleeves. The knife had been jabbed into the upper part of the arm, and it would be too awkward to roll his sleeves up that far.

Tony dropped down onto the stool, and his eyes paused on Bucky’s real arm, trailing up to his shoulder. Bucky smiled softly at him. “What did you do in the Army?” Tony asked, pulling his eyes away, and pulling off his own jacket, throwing it over by his computers.

“Stevie and I worked some classified stuff,” Bucky told him, watching arrange the tools he thought he would need. “We worked in a group, pretty damn well if I say so myself.”

“So much so that you stayed there for a few years even after Steve came back?” Bucky hummed and nodded. “You must have liked- Holy crap, what happened?” Tony was looking at his arm now, seeing how two of the panels were shifted, one bent, and wires were exposed. Bucky could admit that he might have messed with it a little after he got back to the apartment. “Please tell me you at least covered that up before taking a shower.” Did that sound a little like guilt?

“Yeah, of course,” Bucky said with a nod. “I was practicing last night, like you had mentioned last time, seeing what kind of motion I could get with the arm. See if I could still do some of the stuff I used too.”

“And is some of that mutilating your limbs?” Tony asked, taking the arm and turning it so he could get better access to the part. He rolled in, and Tony’s knees were pressed against his own leg, straddling it. A panel was lifted up and Bucky raised an eyebrow, wondering how he had missing that last night.

“No, it was an unhappy accident,” Bucky said softly, fully aware that his knee was almost pressed to Tony’s crotch. The engineer leaned in, and started in on the wires, sometimes mumbling what sounded like equations. “It’s fixable, right?”

“Yeah,” Tony said quietly, all his focus on the arm. “I’ll replace these wires, and get Jarvis to scan it-“

“Who?”

“Jarvis is an AI I created. He stays here in my lab, and at my house,” Tony explained. “Let’s me multitask more easily.” He said all this without looking away from his work, Bucky watching him the whole time. “Anyway, I’ll have to remove two of these coverings, at least get them straightened out.”

“Why not do it while it’s still attached?” Bucky asked. Not that he wanted to shorten his time here, specially not with the position they were in now, but it might bring Tony closer. “I think you’d detached the nerve connection-“

“I have.”

“-so it’s not like it’ll hurt.” Tony lifted his eyes to look at Bucky, before shifting slightly to reach over his arm, grabbing a couple more tools. “Maybe when you’re done, we can stop and get some food again. For a job well done.”

“You’re a bit presumptive,” Tony said, but Bucky was sure he saw the amusement dancing on his face.

“I have a lot of confidence,” Bucky replied with a smile. “Specially when I see something I like.”

“Shouldn’t talk like that when I’m trying to fix you,” Tony said, attention back on the arm. “Don’t need me distracted.” Bucky nudged his knee a little, pushing into Tony’s thigh, and the man jumped, eyes jumping back up to Bucky’s. “Yeah, like that.” Bucky might have imagined it, but he sounded a little breathless.

“I can wait.” Bucky smirked at him a little. Tony huffed a little, then looked back down at the arm, but he was sure that Tony’s tightened his knees around Bucky’s leg. He ended up taking Bucky’s advice, and pulled out some small hammers, that looked custom made to Bucky, and gently started to reform the damaged mental pieces.

He was kind enough to wait until after Tony had spot welded some of the pieces, and wires, into working over before moving his leg again, then time pressing closer to the engineer. Tony licked his lips and closed the panel to his arm, and Bucky was moving the rest of his body in. He flexed his metal fingers, then reached up, gently tipping Tony’s chin back up.

“Hope I’m not being too forward,” Bucky started softly.

“You completely are,” Tony said back, without any heat.

“But, I’d really like to kiss you right now.” Tony lifted his eyes this time, brown meeting blue. He didn’t stop Bucky from leaning in, tilting his head slightly, but turned his head at the last second so that Bucky’s lips met the corner of his mouth instead.

There was something pressed against his chest suddenly, and when Bucky looked down he felt his heart stutter a little. “Had this gone any other way, I’d be asking you out to eat,” Tony said quietly, almost sadly. Bucky’s hand reached up to take the goggles that were pressed there, in Tony’s hands.

The goggles that had been lost at house he had broken into last night. His eyes shot up, and now he saw a bit of fire burning in, the admittedly still gorgeous, chestnut eyes. “But, I tend not to go out with people who try to kill me.” Then Bucky felt something entirely different, and unfortunately familiar, pressed to his chest. He didn’t need to look down to know that Tony was holding a pistol there. “Did he send you? Was losing an arm part of the ploy, or were you pulled in afterwards? How much did he offer you?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” Bucky said tightly, not daring to move. The change in Tony had been instantaneous, a little dizzying. He had been fixing his arm, they were silently flirting with each other, and then there was a fire in his voice that could probably melt his arm. “You weren’t even supposed to be there last night.” Bucky remembered that Tony had a limp when he saw him, and he remembered twisting his attacker’s ankle last night. “Listen, we can do this without anyone getting hurt, you know. Just turn yourself in, we can get you a deal-“

“A deal??” Tony frowned at him, looking at him like he might have lost his mind. “Is that what he told you? There’s no deal, James .” Bucky almost flinched at the way he said his name. “I’m dead, that’s how it ends with him. How did he even find me?”

“Well, the trail of stolen weapon designs and sales is pretty incriminating,” Bucky deadpanned. Tony’s eyes widened slightly, and he felt the force of the gun against his chest waver slightly. He took advantage of it and grabbed the gun, pressing the palm of the metal hand against the end of the barrel in case it went off, before tearing it out of Tony’s grip. Tony pushed himself back, the wheels of the stool taking him far enough away, before standing up.

“What are you talking about?” He honestly sounded lost, and Bucky almost wanted to believe him, to fall for it. But he had seen better acting overseas from bombers. “I’m stopping those sales, and I’m destroying every copy of any of my weapons.”

Now it was Bucky’s turn to frown. “Your weapons? Either you’ve lost your mind, or you’re-“

“Oh my god,” Tony muttered. “You didn’t know.” Tony put a hand to his mouth, then turned quickly and started typing at his computer, curse words flying out under his breath quickly. “Jarvis scan the R&D floors.” He paused in his typing and looked up. “Jarvis?”

“You said he was an AI right?” Bucky felt the tension rippling off of the man. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck were raising. Something was very wrong.

“Were you the only one in on this?” Tony turned and moved towards Bucky then. “Does Steve know? Who else knows about me?”

“Steve doesn’t know anything!” Bucky exclaimed. “I wouldn’t let him. He works here legit. No one knows about you per say. You’re supposed to some crazy recluse that no one has seen for years!”

“Yeah, and it took me a hell of a long time to make it like that,” Tony growled out, then ran his hands through his hair. Bucky couldn’t believe that he was looking at Tony Stark . “Two people know where I am. Two. I’ve moved quietly, silently, and off the radar for a long time, and those friends have guarded that secret with their lives. Who else was working with you last night?”

“Just two others,” Bucky told him. His head tilted, turning his ear towards Tony’s office when he heard something. “Someone’s at your door. They’re trying to get inside.” Tony frowned, but moved out of the workshop, then stopped when he heard the soft rattle of something trying to pick the lock. “Is there another way out of here?” He whispered then.

Tony nodded, didn’t say anything, but grabbed Bucky’s arm and pulled him back into the workshop. He paused at a keyboard, a couple of keystrokes killing the monitor, then he was moving to the back corner. A motion from his hand and Bucky was helping him pull on one of the shelves against the wall. A soft ‘whoosh’ of air, and a hidden door was opening. Bucky noted that it didn’t touch the ground, so there would be no evidence on the floor.

Bucky made sure that Tony went in first, then pulled the door shut again. He turned around and saw Tony lifting a hatch, then carefully lowering himself down into it. As Bucky moved forward and down, he heard the soft, but obviously pained, ‘ooph’ from Tony as he hit the ground. Bucky quickly jumped down and saw Tony pushing himself back up, but a look at his leg showed that his feet was twisted too far in.

“You can’t walk on that,” Bucky whispered, but Tony batted him away before he could get closer.

“Trust me, I can, now come on.” Sure enough, when Tony started to walk, his gait was only minutely altered, and there didn’t seem to be any signs of pain on his face. They didn’t have to walk far before Tony was pushing another door open. Bucky nearly jumped in front of Tony when someone was on the other side helping him. “Thanks, Bruce,” Tony murmured and walked out.

The man, Bruce, with his messy looking curly brown hair, and wire rim glasses, looked unruffled by two men walking out of his wall. Like it was something that happened all the time when it came to Tony. “Testing again? Or showing off?” He asked when he saw Bucky.

“Neither,” Tony said walking through the lab, and stopping at Bruce’s computer. “Take the rest of the day off, immediately. In fact, get the whole department to take the rest of the day off.” Bruce frowned moving closer. Bucky closed the secret door, listening for any movement from the hidden passage, mollified for the moment when it was silent. “Don’t worry about any project deadlines, anything like that. Go out, get some nice lunch, head home, surprise your girlfriend, I don’t care, just go ahead and do it now.”

“Sounds like you’re in trouble, Tony,” Bruce said softly.

“I don’t want to pull you into it,” he said back, then motioned for Bucky to follow him. “You didn’t see me, I wasn’t here. Remember, early day!” He called out and they headed for the door out of Bruce’s office.

“We have to get Steve,” Bucky said to him as they walked, or hobbled in Tony’s case, down the hall. “I don’t know who’s after you, but the people I was working with, they know I live with Steve.” Tony’s shot a look at Bucky, but pulled him to the elevator. “You think the elevator is the best right now?”

“They’ll be looking for me in the staircase, because they’ll be thinking like you. So yes, I think the elevator is the best god damned route!” Tony bit off, pulling the bigger in with him when the door opened. “How do you not know who you’re working for?”

“Because I took this job as a trial run.” Tony’s expression screamed that he didn’t think anything else could sound stupider. “It’s a private security agency, and they got this assignment to take down someone who was illegally producing, and selling, Stark weapons.”

“The only person making those weapons is Stane,” Tony whispered to him, then stopped talking when the elevator arrived on Steve’s floor. They both walked out at a sedate pace, not drawing any attention to themselves. “Steve’s office is this way. Keep it quiet, stay calm.”

“I think I know that,” Bucky deadpanned.

He had heard the name Stane before. Obidiah Stane, the man that Stark had had ejected after his return from captivity in Afghanistan. The one up on legal charges that he seemed to be escaping. But why would the information that Romanoff and Barton have lead them to Tony? Tony Stark had been the one to stop the sales, stop the production, and had in fact shut down that whole facet of the company. In fact, he had heard from Steve that the warehouses and assembly plants had been refurbished and were working on new products so that a minimal number of jobs had been lost.

“How has no one recognized you?” Bucky one of the top questions that kept floating in his mind. Yes, no one had seen or heard from Tony Stark for years, but it appeared that he had been working right under everyone’s nose.

“For the first year, I didn’t leave my mansion. I was sequestered, out in California, and that’s where most people think I still am,” Tony told him quietly, leading them through the maze of cubicles and offices. “All the public had were old pictures of me, stuff from before I was kidnapped. Six months in a cave can do a lot for your figured,” the man quipped. He pointed at an office, and Bucky could see Steve in a chair, phone pressed to his ear. Tony knocked on the glass window and Steve looked up, flashed them a smile, and held up a finger to tell them he was almost done. “Luckily for me, I was very vain, and created a signature look. Take away the goatee, let my hair grow out, and go back to my glasses from contacts, and I’m nearly invisible. I don’t have to dress in designer suits that cost more than your arm, and no one looks twice at me. It is amazing what the human eye will ignore when given the slightest bit of change.”

Steve hung up the phone and stood up from his chair. Before he could open the door Tony was already stepping through. “Hey guys, how did-“

“Come on, Steve, let’s go out and have lunch,” Tony interrupted him. He grabbed Steve’s jacket and practically threw it at him. “You should drive, since I know that Bucky took the bus here. Chop, chop, lets go blondie.”

Steve creased his brows and looked at Bucky. “You heard the weird man,” he said in return to his friends’ look.

“Shit.” Bucky was barely able to turn when Tony cursed and there was a shout.

“Stark!” A couple of security guards were running from the elevators towards them. Bucky’s stomach dropped when he saw Barton and Romanoff behind them.

“Shit,” Bucky mirrored, then grabbed Steve’s hand, and followed Tony as he ran the opposite way. He was almost impressed with how well he was running on a messed up ankle. All three of them instinctively ducked down when the sound of a couple gunshots were fired behind them.

“What the hell is going on?” Steve asked as they ran, Tony throwing open the door to the stairs. They thought they would be head down, but Bucky and Steve had to double back when Tony started running up.

“Questions later,” Tony panted, wrenching open the door to the next floor. “Escaping now.” He pushed through some people loitering in the hallway and the two soldiers were right behind him. Tony suddenly stopped in front of a lone set of elevator doors and persistently kept pressing the button.

“You can’t seriously expect to take an elevator,” Steve moaned out after almost running into him.

“He does,” Bucky said. “He’s done it before.” He glanced back and saw one of the guards, and Barton, come out of the stair access doorway.

“Good job, Barnes!” Barton called out as they moved closer. “Thought you said you weren’t going to get Rogers involved though?”

“Come on ,” Tony hissed, him and Steve stepping into the elevator as the doors opened. Bucky looked back, mouth opened to tell them to go, that he would give them time, and then Steve was pulling Bucky in, pressing something into his hand, and stepping back out of the elevator. “Steve!”

“You know the way home. Get there, barricade it down.” The doors closed and they started moving down at a fast pace. Bucky’s mouth fell open a little, shocked at the fast move that Steve had pulled on him.

“He doesn’t know anything,” Bucky said softly, more to himself if he was honest. “He doesn’t know anything, so they won’t-“

“Don’t finish that,” Tony growled out. “They’re going to hurt him, don’t try and fool yourself.” Bucky looked at him, saw the anger simmering behind his eyes. “Get me to my house, we’ll go from there.”

“Steve said to get back to our place,” Bucky argued. “He intends to meet us back there, and that’s where he’ll go.”

“He’s not going anywhere!” Tony shouted back. “Not with the Black Widow and Hawkeye there!”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “How do you know who they are?”

“They really picked a sucker with you, didn’t they?” Tony pushed Bucky out when the doors opened, revealing the parking garage Bucky looked into his hand and saw the car keys for Steve’s Bug there. “Those two work exclusively for Stane as of late. Forget freelance, mercenaries, whatever, they’re Stane’s pets now. They’ve been trying to track me down ever since I had him removed from Stark Industries.”

Bucky cursed and led Tony towards the vehicle. Romanoff and Barton knew that Steve was important to him, and they would probably use him as bait to get Bucky to bring them Tony. “Why does Stane want to kill you so much? Just because you had him thrown out?”

“He’s the one who had me kidnapped in Afghanistan,” Tony told him. He stopped when he saw Bucky heading for the blue car. “Oh no. Please tell me this is not what Rogers drive.”

“Sorry, princess,” Bucky said, unlocking the door. “This is the royal carriage.”

“He makes more than enough to afford something better than this.” Tony actually looked like he might cry as he looked over the car.

“He doesn’t make as much as you do,” Bucky said with a slight eye roll. “He’s not making millions of dollars a month.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” Tony murmured. “And in his position-“ A shot ripped through the air, and Tony gasped as he stumbled forward, hands catching on the car. Bucky cursed and ran around the side of the car to grab Tony. Looking over he saw Natasha stalking towards them, like a wild cat who just found her dinner. She was aiming her gun again and Bucky pulled Tony to the driver’s side of the car, opening the door.

“Get in, get the car started-“

“I can’t drive,” Tony said, jaw clenched tight. He saw Tony was holding onto his right leg, a hole in his jeans. At least he had been shot in the leg with the bad ankle, Bucky thought.

“Then get it ready for me,” Bucky hurried out before jumping back up and sliding over the hood of the car. Romanoff took another shot, but Bucky lifted his metal arm and the bullet was deflected. He hid his surprise that it had actually worked, then started to run at her so she couldn’t get a third shot off. The car’s engine gave a rumble as it tried to start behind him, and Bucky was jumping at the red head.

She moved to one side and lifted her leg for a kick, but Bucky knew better. He moved back himself, bringing his arm down to shove her leg back down. He had seen her use her legs to incapacitate many of her opponents, and there was no way he was going to let that happen to himself.

“Why are you protecting him?” She asked as they moved around each other, arms, and fists, and kicks lashing out, but not connecting. “He’s a war criminal. Nothing like we didn’t see during war ourselves.”

“I don’t think you have the right man, if that’s what you think,” Bucky grit out. While it was true that he didn’t know the whole story, yet, he knew that Tony, Stark or Carbonell, was nothing like some of the terrorists they had taken down while serving.

The engine of the car roared to life, and Tony was honking the horn at him. Lights started to flash from the roof of the car park, and an alarm started to blare. They’d be shutting down the exits any second. Bucky ducked from another punch, and rolled across the floor towards the car. Tony had moved himself to the passenger seat, his hair barely visible from the windshield, and Bucky threw himself into the driver’s seat and slammed the car into drive. It gave an awful screech that Bucky knew he’d be paying for later, but it shot out of the spot and flew out of the exit before the gates could close on them.

Tony lifted himself up a little, looking behind them, but didn’t see anyone chasing them. Bucky panted a little, eyes on the road as his hands gripped the steering wheel. “Stane tried to have me killed,” Tony said quietly, as he settled back in his seat, slowly pulling the seat belt on. “But the terrorists, they saw my worth in making weapons for them, so they kept me alive. He didn’t expect that I would make it back alive, and he really didn’t expect for me to find the evidence to get him kicked from the company for selling weapons to the enemy. He’s been trying to find me ever since, and apparently now, he’s trying to make me look like the traitor.”

Bucky ground his jaw a little, trying to control his driving as he made his way to Tony’s place, memory taking over. “Do you know where they’d take Steve?”

“They’ll let us know,” he said.

They rode in silence, adrenaline starting to wear off, and now Bucky just felt tired. He wasn’t exhausted yet, but he wouldn’t be working at full capacity. At least Tony had fixed his arm earlier. “How’s your leg?” Bucky asked, remembering why Tony wasn’t driving himself. He glanced over, expecting to see his pant leg soaked in blood, but frowned when he didn’t see the familiar dark stain. Tony had pulled his pant leg up, and instead he saw… sparking. “You have a fake leg.”

“Very observant, Sherlock.” Tony rolled his eyes a little, examining the leg and the damage done. “Victim of my escape attempt from the Ten Rings. They had too many of my weapons, and they were having me make more. So, I did, but I rigged an explosion to take out their stock, and facilitate my escape. I think losing one leg is an acceptable loss if I get to keep my life.”

“That’s why you started on making prosthetics right away,” Bucky breathed out. And it suddenly made sense about why it felt different fighting last night, and how Tony was able to still walk, and run, on a ‘broken’ ankle.

“I do some of my best work under pressure,” Tony muttered quietly.

//\\\//\\\

Bucky parked the car in an alley a couple blocks away from Tony’s house. He wasn’t sure how the shorter man was going to walk that far on a malfunctioning leg, but then Bucky found out how Tony managed to be inside the house when it was supposed to be empty. Tony had built an underground entrance, one that led directly from his workshop in the basement, to the basement of a small Italian restaurant.

Tony’s arm went around Bucky’s shoulder as he helped him walk, and the staff was there to hold the door open for him. It seemed that only senior staff, and the owners, knew about the secret entrance, and from what Bucky saw, were very loyal to Tony.

“Maybe when this is all over, I’ll take you out on a date here,” Tony said as they headed down another hidden hallway. Bucky raised an eyebrow and looked at Tony. “Oh, I’m sorry, were you the only one allowed to be forward?”

“I thought you said you don’t go out with guys who try to kill you?” Bucky shot back, almost playfully.

“Well, exceptions can be made. Extenuating circumstances and all that.” Tony shrugged a little, amused. “You think Steve would like to come with us?” Bucky raised both eyebrows now. “I’m sorry, I thought there was something going on between the two of you. I know he has a crush on me.”

Bucky sputtered a bit, words not lining up correctly in his brain. “No, there’s nothing going on between us.” Not that Bucky hadn’t thought about it.

“Oh good,” Tony said with a nod. “I thought you were going to be dead set against it. But I like you a little better right now.” Bucky’s expression deadpanned as Tony smirked

“If you knew he had a crush on you, why haven’t you asked him out?” Bucky asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Tony just shrugged.

“Not sure. He’s got the golden retriever thing going on, and he’s nothing to look away from, but he didn’t grab my attention nearly as quickly as you did, Soldier.” Bucky felt himself smile when Tony used the nickname. “I may change my mind later, but you’re my favorite. You know, if we live through this.”

“You know how to say the sweetest things,” Bucky droned out, earning a sharp laugh from Tony. They reached a door, and Tony leaned in to press his hand to a panel. A click, and the door was opening for them, and Bucky saw the semi-familiar workshop in front of him. It looked a lot different with lights on. The mechanical leg that he had spotted last night made a lot more sense, specially when Tony made a beeline for it, intending to cannibalize it for parts for his own leg.

“Let me fix my leg,” Tony told him, taking a seat as Bucky let go of him. “Keep an eye on your phone, I’m sure that’s how they’ll contact you to let you know where Steve is.”

“Welcome home, Sir.” Bucky jumped when the finely accented British voice sounded in the room. He looked around, but didn’t see anyone. “Since you, and Sergeant Barnes, arrived under duress, I have secured the doors and windows upstairs.”

“Thanks a lot, Jarvis,” Tony said as he opened up the leg on the table. Bucky watched in fascination as Tony gripped a point just above his knee, where metal met flesh, and gave a twist. The metal leg gave a click and Tony was able to pull the prosthetic off completely, also opening it up so he could access the damaged parts. “We’re going to need a silent arsenal. Stane has a friend.”

“I have detected that the Black Widow is attempting to access my program again, Sir.” This was the AI that Tony had been talking about back in his office. He hadn’t realized that it could actually talk to him, and that was what had tipped Tony off back at Stark Tower. It also must have been the AI program that had been fighting back against Romanoff last night when she had cut the power.

“Are the new firewalls holding up?” Tony asked without looking away from his work. Bucky was feeling a little useless, so he started to make a perimeter check around the workshop, while also checking out the stuff that Tony was working on.

“Without fail, Sir.” Tony nodded.

Bucky stopped at the end of a desk, something in a glass case, something engraved, and a faint blue glow caught his attention. He pushed some papers off of the display.

‘ Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart ’

A round, almost battery looking device sat in a cradle. But it was the peculiar blue glow that caught Bucky’s eye. It was something he had seen last night, on Tony’s chest. He looked over at said man, currently replacing wires inside the mechanical leg. He looked back at the object, wondering just what exactly it was used for, and why he would have one in a display. What did the inscription mean? Was it meant to help someone? Save lives? He did know that before Afghanistan, Tony Stark was not particularly the most loved celebrity, unless you counted a love of gossip and raunchy stories, so the device must mean something.

“If you’re done ogling my private stuff, I could use your help over here.” Tony’s voice jolted him out of his thoughts and he walked back over to Tony. He had a soldering iron in one hand, a pair of pliers in the other. “I need you to put the solder on the wire, I can’t let go of these pliers or else the entire leg will be dead weight. We really won’t have enough time for me to rebuild a new leg.”

Bucky grabbed the spool of metal, placing the end of it where Tony tapped with the iron. “So what is that thing?” No use in pretending that it didn’t exist, not since Tony had clearly seen him with it.

“It’s a battery,” Tony said shortly.

“Does it run your leg?” Was there something else on Tony’s person that was artificial? But if it ran the leg, why would he have seen the glow on his chest.

“No, but it did inspire the power source for the prosthetics, so you’re welcome.” Tony snorted a little, tapping a couple of other places before he was able to let go of the pliers, taking the spool from Bucky. He was silent for several minutes as he touched up a few areas before turning off the iron and setting his tools to the side. Picking up the leg he expertly lined it up with the base, then twisted it back on and pulled down his pant leg. Bucky noticed that he had also taken the time to straighten out the ankle as well. “You should check your phone, they should-“

Bucky reached forward, palm going for Tony’s chest, and Tony’s hand whipped out, catching his wrist just before he was able to touch his chest. His eyes were wide as he looked up at Bucky. “It’s inside your chest,” Bucky whispered with a frown. Why was something like that battery inside of him?

“You don’t know me well enough to even think about doing this,” Tony said, going for a growl, but Bucky heard the bit of insecurity laced in his voice.

“Seeing as how I’m trying to save your life now, I think I get a little more leeway,” Bucky said, not unkindly. “If this is something that Stane knows about, then I should too, so I can keep you safe.”

“I’ve been able to keep myself safe for over three years now,” Tony told him, not pushing away when Bucky pushed his palm to rest on his chest. He felt something hard, and warm, and round, just like the item in the display.

“Doesn’t mean you need to keep doing it by yourself now.” Tony watched him carefully, hand still circled around his wrist.

“It’s an arc reactor,” Tony said eventually. “A miniaturized version. It’s based on the one that my dad built years ago, at our California site. He was going for a kind of clean energy, but he didn’t have the science then to get to its full potential.” He let go of Bucky’s wrist, pushing his hand away gently, then gripped the edge of his shirt. Very slowly, hesitating ever so slightly, he lifted his shirt up.

Bucky kept his jaw from physically dropping at what he saw. It was another version of the one on display, set inside of his chest, the skin scarred and red around it even though he could tell that it was not a new addition. “Right now, it’s powering a pretty powerful magnet in my body. It’s keeping shrapnel from reaching my heart. It stops glowing, or it’s taken out, then we’ve got a problem, okay?” Tony let out a breath and pushed Bucky’s hand back again. “Check your phone, please.”

Bucky nodded and went to grab his phone…. That was in the pocket of his jacket, that he left in Tony’s lab. “Uh.” Tony looked back up at him, thoroughly unimpressed. “I don’t have it.”

“What do you mean you don’t have it?”

“I mean, I do not have the phone on my person,” Bucky said slowly and Tony scowled a little. “I thought the first I said it, it was pretty straight forward.” Tony rolled his eyes. “It’s in my jacket, the jacket that I took off in your office, and left it there when we suddenly had to run for our lives.” Would they have noticed his jacket in Tony’s workshop when they eventually got inside? Would they have his phone right now, or is it still inside the Stark Tower?

One of the multiple computer monitors in Tony’s workshop lit up and he looked over. “There’s a message for you, Sir.” The two men looked at each other and Tony rolled over to the computer, bringing up the message. Bucky walked up behind him and he saw an address.

“I know where that is,” Bucky said. “It’s supposed to be where their base of operations.”

“So, right into the Lion’s Den, awesome.” Tony let out a sigh. “We’ll have to be discreet with gear.”

“All my gear is at my apartment, and it’s not exactly inconspicuous.” Bucky watched Tony get up and started rifling through what Bucky had originally written off as junk on one of the workshop tables. “I’ve never been to this building either, so I don’t know what we’d be going up against.”

“Because the Widow and Hawkeye isn’t enough,” Tony said through a snort. It looked like he pulled out a watch, clipping it on his right wrist. “Please tell me that you have another shirt in that pathetic excuse of a car of Rogers’.”

“Usually, I’d say no, seeing how I’ve only been back in the States for less than a week,” Bucky said, walking over to him and watching Tony pulled out what look like chainmail. “But, Steve managed to pull me out to his gym yesterday, and I left my gym bag in the trunk. Why- ooph.” His hands flew up when Tony threw the metal at him. Bucky was surprised when it was much lighter than he had been expecting. He unraveled it and saw that it was a kind of vest, obviously armor. “They won’t see this underneath whatever shirt I wear?”

“Not if you wear anything but that tank,” Tony said, barely gesturing a hand at what he was wearing. “It’s thin, it’s light weight, and it’s silent. It’s about 5 times stronger than Kevlar.”

“Why isn’t this in production for our soldier, or police forces yet?” Bucky asked as he examined it a bit closer.

“Because it doesn’t absorb the force of bullets very well yet.” Bucky nodded to the side once, shrugging a little. “I’m still working on it, and I didn’t want to take it in to the labs just yet.”

“Sir demands a level of quality,” the AI sounded. Bucky was proud that he didn’t jump visibly at the voice.

“Do you have any knives, or maybe small pistols?” Bucky looked around at the stuff on the table, really not recognizing what most of it might be used for. Tony was turning out to be the Q to his Bond at this point.

“I don’t make weapons anymore,” Tony said tightly, but Bucky didn’t take offense to it. “I try to make things that will keep others safe from weapons, or items to take preventative measures. I try to stop situations before they escalate to needing weapons.” The brunette pulled out a small circular piece of metal, then leaned over to stick it to the shoulder of Bucky’s prosthetic arm. “That will prevent them from disabling your arm with an EMP, or anything else really. Although, depending on the situation, it might not hurt to pretend.”

“I’m fairly certain I can do that.” Bucky inspected the piece of tech, and he saw Tony slip another against his foot, hidden by his shoes. “If Stane knows about your arc reactor, does he know about your leg?”

“Unfortunately,” Tony said with a nod. “If you’re going to help me, then I’m expecting you to step up and show me why they picked you for Black Ops.”

“Thought you didn’t know much about a person other than their last name?” Bucky questioned with a smirk. Tony turned a smile his way.

“You intrigued me.”

//\\\//\\\

Bucky knew that also in the gym bag, he had hidden a couple of daggers in the lining, but as Tony pointed out, (unnecessarily), they would be checking him for weapons and taking them as soon as they walked in. Bucky also pointed out that they would think it out of character if he didn’t walk in without something obvious. Tony had shrugged, but didn’t stop him when Bucky slipped the two daggers out of sight.

“Where did you put those?” Tony whispered to him as they walked down the sidewalk, leaving the car a good few blocks away. Jarvis had brought up a satellite feed of the address sent to them, and Tony had expressed joy that they weren’t being too cliché with having an abandoned warehouse. It turned out to be an empty office building.

“Do you really want to know?” Bucky asked, keeping half a step in front of him, eyes picking out sniper spot that Barton might even remotely be hiding in. He wasn’t sure at this point if Tony was worth more to them alive or not, but Bucky’s goal was to leave with both Steve and Tony.

“If it looks like I’m about to die in there, you better tell me,” Tony said, actually pouting. Bucky raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m not dying not knowing that secret.”

“Tell you what, if it looks like you’re about to die, I’ll show you.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows a little.

Two guards were waiting for them at the front of the building, pistols clearly visible at thigh level, and Tony was already putting his arms out. “Go gentle on me boys, and maybe I’ll take you out for dinner later.” Bucky rolled his eyes as one man pushed Tony forward, patting him down. The other man eyed Bucky and walked over to him, patting him down, and as expected, found the two daggers. Somehow, Tony’s design for the armor he wore underneath passed inspection with the guard none the wider. He also wasn’t surprised when each man pulled out one of their guns, urging them into the building.

“Arms up,” one of the men said as they walked down a hall. “Hands behind your head.”

“Do the ropes come out next?” Tony couldn’t help but comment. “I prefer nylon, possibly even silk. I need something soft on my skin.”

“The only reason there’s not a bullet in your head right now,” the man behind Tony growled out, “is because you might have enough information to save your life.”

“Let’s not be so rude with our guests,” a voice called out as they entered what was probably once a room full of cubicles. “You can leave them here.” Bucky saw an older, bald man with a white beard wave his arm, dismissing the two guards. It didn’t take Bucky long to make out Romanoff and Barton standing behind them in the corners of the room. Who he didn’t see was Steve. Tony didn’t wait for confirmation before putting his arms back down, but Bucky could see the coldest look on his face, directed at the man. “It’s been a long time, Tony, my boy.”

“Where’s Steve?” Tony demanded. Bucky was seeing a whole new person, not even having that tone directed at him when Tony thought that he had been sent to kill him.

“I know that you were taught better than that,” the man who could only be Obidiah Stane taunted. “But, since it seems we’re getting right down to business.” He lifted two fingers and Bucky turned at the sound of shuffling feet. Steve was pushed into the room, looking between everyone, but didn’t look any worse for wear. There were a couple cuts on his cheek, along with one hell of a shiner. Bucky smirked a little when he got a clear view of Barton and saw that he had more bruises.

“This isn’t exactly where you said we should meet up, Rogers,” Bucky said looking at the blonde.

“Couldn’t let you think I was too predictable,” Steve replied, keeping his cool like the Captain that he was.

“As you can see, your friend is unharmed, and free to go,” Stane said, looking at Tony. “Both of your friends at free to go.” He turned his eyes to Bucky, and he felt a shiver run down his back. This man was the scum of the earth. “I have all the faith that you’ll walk away from this, and none of us will have to see each other again. I trust that you and the Captain know the importance of silence.”

Steve walked over, standing between Bucky and Tony, cold glare focused on Stane. “I don’t see how we’re supposed to walk away, knowing that you’re going to kill our friend,” Steve spoke up this time. Bucky felt Steve knock his knuckle twice on his spine, signaling that he should go to the left, and Steve would take the right. That was alright by him, he was looking for a rematch against Romanoff, and to maybe get a little revenge for shooting Tony in the leg.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Barton spoke up. Judging by the on Steve’s face he was also looking for a second go. “You’re getting a hell of a deal, and all you have to do is turn over this piece of filth.” Bucky wasn’t able to bite back the growl that rumbled up his throat.

“Do me a favor, Steve,” Bucky graveled out.

“Already doing it,” Steve replied, and the two men were moving. Romanoff had to have seen it coming, because she was meeting him halfway through the room with a charge, slamming an elbow into his chest. He let out a small grunt but set his heels in and didn’t move, but didn’t have the time to block her when she went low to slam her foot into his knee.

Bucky growled and took a step forward on his own, intent to turn and grab her, when he felt her hand on his shoulder from behind. He had less than a second to plan for his next move, because Romanoff was swinging around, knee hooked over his shoulder and then she slide her other leg up, trying to wrap his thighs around his neck. His hands went up and grabbed onto her waist, stopping her from getting behind him against, but then her fists were coming down repeatedly on his head and neck. Bucky wasted no time in moving forward until he was able to slam her back against the wall once, twice, three times until her grip loosened. A metal hand came up to wrap around her throat and she was forced to grab onto his wrist, keeping her balance that way as well.

“Did you even look into Stane before you started working for him?” Bucky asked in a deep voice. “Or did you two just go where the most money was?”

“How long after Stark batted his pretty eyelashes at you did you fall into his bed?” She gasped when Bucky slammed her against the wall again.

“There’s a line in our work, Romanoff,” Bucky hissed. “There’s a line you don’t cross, and you don’t work for the man selling the bombs the guys who trying to kill you too!”

“It’s a damn thin line, Barnes,” Romanoff rasped out. One hand let go of his wrist and then her hand was moving to slap something on his metal arm. He felt the shock travel up, but it didn’t kill the power like she had probably hoped it would. Tony had been right, but now wasn’t the time to pretend. Romanoff’s eyes widened when his hand only squeezed a little tighter, before he threw her to the ground.

“Stop!” The loud shout of Stane’s voice caught everyone’s attention, the room falling silent. Except for the sound of labored breathing. Tony was on his back, Stane’s knee on his stomach as he was crouched down. Bucky’s eyes widened when he saw the blue glow of the arc reactor coming from his hand, ice running through his veins. Tony wouldn’t last long without that in his chest. “I tire of this game, and you’ve lost. What’s going to happen-“ He stopped when there was the sharp whine of something charging up, and he was flying back into the wall and off of Tony. The reactor slipped from his grasp as his head slumped down from the impact.

“I hate his voice,” Tony huffed out. He let out a groan, a hand to his chest, and he was becoming too visibly pale.

The sound of air moving to his right had Bucky ducking down and pivoting on his foot, then he punched with his left arm. His fist made a connection with Romanoff’s stomach and she also went back, the force knocking her out. Bucky’s feet were sliding as he turned to run for Tony, reaching out to grab the arc reactor.

“Better tell me where those knives were,” Tony said quietly, taking some deep breaths. The corners of his eyes crinkled a little when Bucky held up the reactor.

“You’re paying for our first date,” Bucky said as he pushed up Tony’s shirt to get better vantage to the port. He blinked when he was able to stare straight into Tony’s chest, seeing bone, blood, and organs. “This is a little weird.”

“You say the sweetest things.” Tony coughed then grabbed the reactor, searching for something on the underside of it. “I need you to take two fingers, preferably flesh fingers, and reach on in there.” Bucky scrunched up his face. “Don’t get squeamish on me now, Soldier.”

“I long for the day you use that sexually,” Bucky mumbled.

“I don’t,” Steve said breathlessly as he ran over to them. “Holy shit, there’s a hole in your chest.”

“I’m teasing you later about swearing,” Bucky promised. He took a breath and gently reached his first two fingers into the hole. “What am I looking for?”

“Should be a thick copper looking wire, and it’ll have a kind of plug at the end,” Tony told him. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes. He smiled softly when Steve was putting his hand on Tony’s forehead. “That would feel even better, if you weren’t so hot, Cap. And unfortunately I mean that your body is radiating heat. Although, you are very attractive.”

“Better call it, Buck,” Steve said in a soft teasing tone. “He’s starting to get delirious on us.”

“It’s one of my better qua-ahh-lities.” Tony let out a shocked little yell as Bucky found the wired, and was pulling gently. “Yup, that’s it, felt it move. Whatever you do, don’t let it touch the metal walls. I really don’t feel like going into cardiac arrest again.”

“Like you aren’t already?” Bucky grumbled, then reached forward to grab the reactor with his metal hand. “I’m assuming I just plug it in?”

“Plug and play,” Tony breathed with a nod. “Trust you, James.” Bucky’s eyes flitted up when Tony called him by his first name. Now, he was on a mission.

“You owe me a kiss, and a date, and I want damn good food,” Bucky started to list off, getting in close so he didn’t muck it up. “Wear your nerdiest glasses, cause you hot as shit in them.” Tony laughed, a smile crinkling on his face as Bucky was sliding the reactor back into position, and locking it in.

//\\\//\\\

Bucky buttoned up his blue shirt, before tucking it into the black slacks that Tony loved to see him wear. And loved even more to see them flying through the bedroom. Running a hand through his hair, he fluffed it up a bit, going for a practiced messy look, pleased with how his haircut had turned out.

“Buck!” Steve called out from the kitchen. “You almost down, you prima donna?”

“Ouch, Stevie!” Bucky answered, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, before walking out. Steve looked over and whistled a bit.

“I almost thought you would have gone for a tie and jacket,” Steve said, sitting on the kitchen counter, a bowl of cereal in his hands. “Gotta go special for the one year anni.”

“Ah, you underestimate us,” Bucky said with a smirk. He hoped it was good enough to cover the nerves that were practically vibrating inside of him. There was a knock at the door and he all but sprinted for it before Steve could move.

Tony grinned at him from the other side of the door, wearing a deep red shirt under a black and gold vest with his own black slacks. After Stane had been arrested, (and Barton and Romanoff had disappeared back overseas), Tony made his way back into the public eye. He still worked as the head of R&D, but had to attend more public functions, and wear nicer clothing than the jeans and band tee’s he was so found of.

“Hello, Soldier,” Tony said as he moved forward, pulling down on Bucky’s shirt to give him a kiss. “This is the shirt that Steve likes, isn’t it?”

“He didn’t even notice,” Bucky grinned after kissing him back. He pulled Tony into the apartment, pushing the door closed with his foot. “It’s going to be epic, he’s eating cereal in his paint stained clothes.”

“Mmm,” Tony growled a little with a smirk. “So many bad come-ons to use. This is going to be a fun night.” He kissed Bucky again. “Love you.” They both grinned at the words.

“Love you, too.” Bucky wrapped his left arm around Tony’s waist, the metal leg brushing against Bucky’s, and they sauntered into the kitchen. Steve was tilted a little, looking down at a tablet that was on the counter as well, his bowl empty, but still in his hands.

Looking up, Steve frowned a little. “It wasn’t on the schedule that I had to leave for tonight.” Bucky and Tony usually didn’t come back to Bucky and Steve’s apartment after dates, but if they did, it had to be scheduled so Steve could find something else to do. He didn’t really want to hear them in the bedroom.

“We’d rather prefer you here,” Tony said, gliding over to Steve to lean his hip against Steve’s knee. His hand reached up, tapping at some stray paint splatters that were on Steve’s cheek. “We should pick up some edible paint, I know they make it.”

“Really don’t need to know what goes on in the bedroom,” Steve said, going to slide off the counter, but Bucky was leaning across the Tony, blocking Steve in.

“He wasn’t talking to me, Punk,” Bucky said with a smirk, trampling down his nerves.

“Could you imagine the fun the three of us would have?” Tony grinned. “Steve can do the painting, I wanna do some licking. In fact, I’m good with licking, I don’t care who paints at that point.”

Steve looked between the two of them, his frown turning even more heavily confused. “I don’t think my abundance of straightforwardness is really getting the point across.” Tony turned, putting his hands on Steve’s knees, and leaning in between his legs. Steve’s eyes widened and shot over to Bucky’s. Bucky just reached forward to take the bowl of Steve’s hands, set it in the sink, then lean in behind Tony, plastering his chest to Tony’s back. “Make a new anniversary with us, Steve. Be the hot blonde in our relationship.”

Steve’s mouth dropped a little, and Tony took the advantage, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. Steve moaned slightly into the kiss. Bucky pulled Tony’s head back when they were down, pressing his own kiss to Tony, running his tongue along his lips. He let out his own pleased little moan.

“He tastes good, doesn’t he?” Tony whispered huskily. “I wanna keep him, James.” Both brunettes looked back at Steve, who blinked, looking a little dazed.

“I think that we can work out some negotiations,” Steve replied in a neat little whisper, smiling almost shyly when Bucky and Tony grinned.

Tony raised his hand, grin still plastered on his face. “I call the middle!”


End file.
